Chelsea have announced that they are consulting with locals over plans to expand Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich last year commissioned a study to explore the possibility of expanding the club's Stamford Bridge home and improving access to the stadium on matchdays.
The stadium has a capacity of 41,798 -- significantly less than Emirates Stadium's 60,272 and Old Trafford's 75,635 -- and Chelsea are eager to improve matchday revenue to allow them to invest more on transfers in accordance with both UEFA and the Premier League's financial fair play rules.
A statement on the club's official website read: "Mr Abramovich has appointed a professional team to assess, in more detail, the feasibility of expanding the existing stadium capacity at Stamford Bridge Grounds.
"The process now enters a further local consultation phase. This will include an explanation of the rationale for expansion, driven by spectator demand for more seats and the need to increase stadium revenue to remain competitive with our major rivals, this revenue being especially important under financial fair play rules."
The Times reports that Chelsea will seek to allay concerns in meetings with local residents and neighbouring business, as well as season-ticket holders and stadium members, between June 30 to July 2.
Chelsea had originally sought to establish a new home but, after seeing plans to relocate to nearby Earls Court dashed in 2013, they are now focused on redeveloping Stamford Bridge, with reported plans to increase the capacity to 60,000.
The club has said that "technical solutions for stadium capacity expansion are being investigated" and The Times reports: "One solution proposed is to dig down and try to overcome the challenge of trying to fit a larger stadium on a site that is around five acres smaller than Emirates Stadium, as Real Madrid did with the Bernabeu."
The Premier League champions would also need to find a temporary home during the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge, with Wembley and rugby union stadium Twickenham cited as possible options.
However, former Twickenham MP Vince Cable registered concern about the use of the latter in September last year, saying: "I have written today to RFU [Rugby Football Union] about Twickenham Stadium and possible use for a year by Chelsea FC. V serious concerns and need for facts ASAP."